One reason why the project has become such a boondoggle is that many states and countries are significantly invested in the plane, relying on its production for income and jobs and making it politically untenable to kill or scale back the program.

Every US state but Alaska, Hawaii, Nebraska, Louisiana, and Wyoming has economic ties to the F-35, with 18 states counting on the project for $100 million or more in economic activity, according to primary contractor Lockheed Martin.

All told, the project is supposedly responsible for 32,500 jobs in the US. Globally, another nine countries have major ties to the F-35, which means that US allies are not only set to receive the F-35 but depend on it for economic stimulus and prestige as well.

One way or another, America's Multirole fifth-generation fighter is coming — even as the setbacks keep coming.